Journey Into Imagination With Figment
Journey Into Imagination With Figment is the current incarnation of Journey Into Imagination that was introduced as a result of the public outcry against Journey Into Your Imagination, opening on June 2, 2002. Due to popular demand, Figment returned with a larger role, appearing in every show scene. The song "One Little Spark" also returned with new verses. Premise *Climb aboard your tour tram and get ready for surprises galore as you travel through Dr. Channing’s sensory labs. Little ones will love learning and laughing about the five senses — sound, sight, smell, touch and taste—on this madcap musical trip with Figment. *The Institute’s beleaguered chairman Dr. Nigel Channing (played by Eric Idle) sets out to prove how the 5 senses capture the imagination, but is upstaged by the mischievous Figment, who sabotages the doctor’s sound experiment, interferes with the eye chart and causes quite a stink in the Smell Lab. *Then up becomes down as you cruise through Figment’s fluorescent, topsy-turvy house and discover that imagination really does work best when set free! *Afterward, be sure to head to ImageWorks--an interactive play area where you can use your imagination to make music, digital pictures and more. Summary Dr. Nigel Channing of the Imagination Institute has opened the Institute's doors, inviting guests to a special drive-thru open house that will take them through the Institute's five Sensory Labs: Sight, Sound, Smell, Touch and Taste. Figment tags along to Channing’s dismay and causes mischief along the way. In the Sound Lab, Figment interrupts the experiment and comes up with a telephone and the train sound from the previous version of the ride is now a “Train of Thought”. In the Sight Lab, Figment knocks the letters off of the room’s eye chart and begins a sing along to "One Little Spark". The materializing butterfly from the previous version was carried over to this incarnation, but rather than appearing in the cage, the effect is now reversed so that the butterfly disappears. In the Smell Lab, Figment takes over a giant slot machine-like contraption, becomes a skunk and sprays the guests with a foul odor (which is actually a burnt coffee smell). Channing, after seeing the chaos that Figment has been causing, stops the tour outside the Taste and Touch Labs and decides that it should end right there. Figment then takes the guests to his own open house, which he literally turns upside down with his carefree mind. Channing soon learns from Figment that imagination should be set free and we go into the finale with numerous Figments and Channing singing "One Little Spark" together. The guests then enter the unload area, disembark the ride vehicles and enter the ImageWorks. The current ride has received mixed reviews, some saying Figment has become obnoxious and annoying, and they hope for a future rehab to restore Dreamfinder back to the attraction, while others are just glad that Figment is back. Allusions to Disney films The attraction includes several visual elements suggesting that the Imagination Institute is connected to Medfield College, the setting of several live-action Disney films. The queue line for the attraction passes the "offices" of Professor Brainard (Fred MacMurray's role in The Absent-Minded Professor, although the queue addresses the 1997 remake when the role was played by Robin Williams) with dancing Flubbers visible behind the door's window, Wayne Szalinski (Rick Moranis in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids franchise) with a silhouette of the shrinking machine visible behind the door's window accompanied by an unnatural reddish-purple color and Dean Higgins (Joe Flynn's role in the "Dexter Riley" films). A series of other Easter eggs can be seen and heard throughout the queue as well, including a secretary making occasional calls over the intercom for Brainard, Szalinski, Higgins, Dexter Riley, and Merlin Jones. Dr. Channing is seen pictured next to the main characters from both films as they are the company's Inventors of the Year. During the ride, after the vehicles exit the Sound Lab, the guests pass a glass-fronted computer room with a sign on the door that reads "NO TENNIS SHOES ALLOWED," a reference to The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, the first Dexter Riley film. A Medfield College letterman's jacket can be seen inside the room. Future Disney has reportedly said that there are plans to eliminate the Imagination Institute theme and overhaul the ride to a new theme and/or something closer in feel to the original ride with a possible return of Dreamfinder after all fans have been complaining about Dreamfinder not being in the ride. However, the plans are heavily set back due to the construction of Pandora at Disney's Animal Kingdom as well as other future plans overlapping it. The overhaul was rumored to start late 2015 or mid 2016 if the plan goes through. It's also been stated that Bob Iger also plans to change the ride to be themed around Inside Out, with a slated open date of sometime in 2020.Iger Mentions Plans for Epcot Trivia * Before entering the Sound Lab, an office door has the name "Dean Finder" on it, a reference to the Dreamfinder, the former host of the attraction. References Category:Epcot attractions Category:Omnimover attractions Category:Future World Category:Dark rides Category:Kodak Category:Journey Into Imagination Category:Disney's Fastpass equipped attractions Category:Disney parks and attractions Category:World Celebration